Drivers' 'gas rage' tends to erupt at pump

Low-paid clerks catch brunt of anger over prices

Tim Molloy, The Associated Press

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, May 29, 2006

Tempers are rising along with gas prices. Gas stations across the country report that drivers are taking out their gas rage against big oil by yelling at clerks and cashiers and sometimes driving off without paying.

"Everyone is suffering at the same time," said Sam Shirazie, a clerk at a Chevron station east of downtown Los Angeles. "If I could help to reduce that pain, I would."

Employees of Fleming Corp., which operates 14 gas stations in Kansas and Missouri, have heard everything from "just a mumble-grumble kind of thing to a cheap shot or blaming the clerk for world oil prices," owner Ed Roitz said.

"Out of all our customers, probably 1 percent does the loudest squealing," he said. "I don't want to repeat some of it. They'll talk about the blankety-blank oil companies."

The convenience stores association advises store owners to ensure that employees understand the costs associated with gas, and encourages them to explain to customers that in some cases they aren't making any profits despite the soaring price of fuel. Retailers make about two-thirds of their profits from items inside the store, he said.

Steve Grosse is trying humor to defuse tempers. At his Shell station in Manhattan Beach, Calif., he replaced the price of gas with the words "arm," "leg" and "first born."

Consumers might finally be getting at least a temporary break at the pump. The latest figures released May 21 by the Lundberg Survey indicate the nationwide average price of self-serve regular fell nearly 1.5 cents in the previous two weeks to $2.93 a gallon -- the first dip since the Feb. 24 price of $2.24 began to climb.

Convenience stores that sell gas are responsible for three-quarters of all gas sales in the United States, Lenard said. But only 3 percent of those stations are owned by oil companies.

Anthony Sinai, who co-owns a Chevron station in Los Angeles, said most of his steady customers understand that he makes just a few cents per gallon and that gas prices are controlled by market forces far beyond his control.

"When I explain that to people, they're just totally surprised because they expect us to make a lot more money," he said.

There have been gas-related crimes around the nation.

In Austin, Texas, a man was arrested this month for investigation of stealing hundreds of gallons of fuel from underground tanks while posing as a parking lot cleaner. He sold the gas from his driveway, police said.

In Fond du Lac, Wis., the number of reported cases of customers driving off without paying for gas doubled to 100 in the first four months of this year compared with the first four months of 2005, police Maj. Kevin Lemke said.

"We've talked to a lot of the owners that are having problems and made some suggestions like maybe they need to start thinking about prepay," Lemke said, "but in a small community like Fond du Lac they don't want to inconvenience even their good customers because of a few bad customers."

Retailers in other areas have had the same problem with prepay, the convenience store association said.

Gasoline theft cost the industry an estimated $237 million in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to the group. Some retailers have installed security cameras, increased employee monitoring of pumps and advised workers to greet customers to take away their feeling of anonymity.